I tried waking up at 4 a.m. every day, and I ended up creating a perfect morning routine for myself

Pepsi CEO Indra Nooyi at Tina Brown's Seventh Annual Women In The World Summit.
Jemal Countess/Getty Images
Indra Nooyi is best known for being the CEO of PepsiCo, where she is both the first woman and first person born outside of the US to hold the title.

The experiment

When I attempted to follow Benjamin Franklin's meticulous schedule while simultaneously trying to live up to his 13 virtues, I struggled with practicing all his habits consistently.

After some analysis and some guidance from a man who spent a year trying to be more productive, I realized that I had made my goals too big, too soon. That opened up plenty of opportunities to fall short of what I was trying to accomplish.

So I decided that instead of waking up at 4 a.m. right off the bat, I would try to build up to it. I would try waking up at 4:30 a.m., and then 5 to 10 minutes earlier the next day, and so on until I got to 4 a.m. The same would go for bedtime, until I reached 9 p.m.

I managed to stick with this for three days, starting at 4:30 a.m. on Monday, 4:20 a.m. on Tuesday, and 4:15 a.m. on Wednesday.

I spent my mornings doing 15 minutes of meditation, reading the news over a cup of tea for 30 to 45 minutes, working out for an hour and a half, and making breakfast and lunch before heading to work. I generally got to work around 8:30 a.m., an hour earlier than my usual time.

I originally aimed to get to work by 7 a.m., like Nooyi does, but in the end, I wasn't prepared to slash an hour and a half of my morning routine.

2/

The earliest I managed to wake up.
Anisa Purbasari

The results

My productivity levels spiked on Monday, but I noticed them decline on Tuesday and Wednesday as I got up earlier without going to sleep earlier.

On Wednesday night, I went out to dinner with friends and got home at 9:15 p.m. — pretty early, but not early enough for a 4:10 a.m. wake-up without concentration issues the next day.

So I set my alarm for 5:30 a.m., though I ended up waking up at 5. The extra sleep made all the difference, and I felt more productive than I had been all week.

On Thursday night, I didn't finish doing everything I needed to do until after 9 p.m. After playing mind games with myself, I decided that I would get up at 5 a.m. the next day.

Friday morning, I was extremely tired, and I started to feel the lack of sleep in my body, my brain, and my eyes.

Despite the tiredness, I realized that I'd performed a consistent morning routine every morning. As a result, I started strong every day, even if I struggled a bit mid-afternoon.

I concluded that the experiment wasn't a total failure. And if not getting up at 4 a.m. every day is a failure, it was one I was happy to accept.

3/

I learned that my perfect morning routine takes three hours.

Some of my coworkers were amazed that I would choose to try an experiment that required me to be up five hours before work.

However, the extra time in the morning led me to discover that my perfect routine takes three hours.

That time allows me to meditate for 15-30 minutes, read the news over a cup of tea for 30-45 minutes, exercise for an hour to an hour and a half, prepare and eat breakfast, pack my lunch, plan my day, get ready, and go.

It may sound elaborate or excessive to some, but I've found that having a slow morning routine sets me up for a productive day.

4/

The mentality of being ahead of the game kicked my focus into high gear.

Waking before the sun came up gave me the feeling that I was starting ahead of everyone else (despite the runners I always saw in East River Park at 5:30 a.m.).

After exercising, I felt accomplished by tackling a challenging feat early in the day. If I'd already run 4 miles that morning, a day of reading, writing, and editing should be pretty easy, right?

That's what I would tell myself before tackling a big task. Most of the time, it worked.

5/

Errands like grocery shopping were difficult to squeeze in if I had to wake up too early.
Anisa Purbasari

But waking up too early can be restrictive.

The downside is that waking up early and having a detailed morning routine took time away from socializing in the evenings, quality time with my husband, Skyping with my friends and family, and running errands.

6/

Exercising makes my morning more enjoyable.

I was surprised to discover this, particularly because most days my workout involved running at least 4 miles or putting my upper body through pain with pull-ups and planks.

But there's something about doing it in the morning that allowed me to enjoy the process instead of seeing it as a torturous after-work chore.

7/

A routine that suits me, my goals, and my strengths and weaknesses is easier to maintain.

It's clear Nooyi gets up at 4 a.m. and is at the office by 7 a.m. because that's how she works best.

But I know that if I tried to follow her exact routine, I'd get less done despite having more hours in the day. That's because I am at my best after seven to eight hours of sleep.

Additionally, I'm much more focused after a physical challenge in the morning. I also like to take my time meditating, eating breakfast, and drinking my tea so I can come to work feeling relaxed and ready as opposed to frantic and rushed.

Trying Nooyi's wake-up time just to see if I could do it worked for a couple of days. But the routine wouldn't be effective long term because it isn't aligned with my goals and priorities.

However, this experiment allowed me to design my morning routine the way I like, which will make it easier and more pleasant to stick to.